Urban legend Atari E.T. game to be dug up on its 30th anniversary

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If you know your video game history, the very mention of the Atari 2600 E.T. game will make your eyes light up as you reach for your tinfoil hat. The game is said to be so historically bad that Atari destroyed millions of copies and stuffed them all into nine trucks that were buried in a landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Now, 30 years after this supposedly happened, film company Fuel has made a deal with the city commission of Alamogordo to not only dig up the landfill looking for the possibly buried games, but to also film the whole thing as a documentary.

The Atari 2600 E.T. isn’t the only game that was supposedly buried so as to be forgotten by the public — the rumor also includes other Atari games, notably the console’s port of Pac-Man.

Perhaps the most famous game that’s said to be buried out in the middle of nowhere, though, is one that most likely doesn’t exist: Polybius. This title was supposedly released back in 1981, a year before E.T., and was similar in style to tunnel-shooter Tempest. However, whereas E.T. was just rumored to be so bad it drove people crazy, Polybius was said to have actually drove people crazy — inducing nightmares and even suicidal tendencies.

So, the story goes, Polybiuswas quickly recalled in order to keep the public safe, while E.T. was buried in a landfill to keep Atari from being tormented by poor reviews and to prevent the blockbuster franchise from being tarnished.

The agreement with Alamogordo lasts for six months, so Fuel should have more than enough time to go dumpster diving for old video games. If the company actually finds the buried games, that would put this video game urban legend to rest, and most likely make an interesting documentary for those of us that keep a tinfoil hat close to our desks.